Everyone wins with Doug Williams' hire

Feb. 23, 2011

GRAMBLING — Grambling State University was thought to have pulled off some sort of coup by luring back Doug Williams for a second stint as the Tigers' head football coach.

After all, how often does a school lose a coach the caliber of Rod Broadway, after signing day, and manage to take a monumental leap forward?

Hardly ever, as you could tell by the visible and audible jubilation pouring from Grambling alums, athletes and supporters — many who made lengthy journeys to mark the occasion Wednesday.

It was such a glorious day the fire marshal wouldn't have thought to spoil the party among that oozed out of an Eddie G. Robinson Museum overflowing with giddy Gramblingites.

However, if you looked into the eyes of Williams on Wednesday, if you watched how he looked at his mother and his daughter, if you listened closely to the inflections in his voice and grasped his desire to coach his son, D.J., and a hundred other football players, it was impossible to determine the winner of the recent, stunning events to be anyone other than Doug Williams.

"You can't even write a script about this," Williams said. "There is no place like home."

Once the rumors of Broadway's departure for North Carolina A&T surfaced, Williams' phone began to ring.

"A lot of people at Grambling have my number,"

said Williams, who resigned his position as the general manager of the United Football League's Virginia Destroyers to return to his alma mater (1978).

When Broadway's departure became certain, discussion with school president Frank G. Pogue and athletic director J. Lin Dawson got serious.

Williams said the negotiations weren't brief, although they could have been.

There was no denying his desire.

"That G is special regardless," said the man who's been loyal to Grambling no matter his professional endeavors.

To Williams, Grambling is about that "G." It represents more than just a letter on the Tigers' helmets.

The shoulders of the 55-year-old Williams became even broader Wednesday when Pogue pinned that magical letter on Williams' lapel.

This place is about family, and Williams had plenty on hand Wednesday. It was difficult to determine the blood relatives from the extended Grambling family at Wednesday's news conference that more resembled a Sunday gathering than an official media function.

This was a celebration, not a formality.

The former Super Bowl MVP had strangers offering to recruit for him — without charge — and familiar faces who said they're willing to "help."

Grambling definitely symbolizes opportunity. "Everybody is something at Grambling," said Williams, who quickly and proudly points out this will be his third go-round at the school. His path to success started on this campus as a student-athlete.

He continued to do Grambling proud after leaving north Louisiana the first time, when he earned the Super Bowl XXII MVP as a member of the Washington Redskins.

Williams returned as a head coach and won three black national championships and three SWAC titles with a 52-18 mark (1998-2003). He left for a front-office position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the team that took a chance on him in 1978 NFL Draft.

No one can deny Eddie Robinson's impact on Grambling, but it's not out of the question to believe Williams has been the most crucial person in the continuation of Coach Rob's legacy.

"Athletics, particularly football, have always been the glue that's helped keep us together at Grambling," Pogue said. "For many years, they'll continue to help us stayed glued together with the return of Doug Williams."

While other major college football programs are "throwing dollars into new stadiums," Dawson said "they don't have the legacy, they don't have the tradition and they don't have the people."